


Falling For You (Into Rivers)

by lalahss



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21579529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalahss/pseuds/lalahss
Summary: Caeldori meets Kiragi while he's training, and agrees to give him a ride back to the fortress. However, her pegasus wasn't born to handle the weight of them both...
Relationships: Kisaragi | Kiragi/Matoi | Caeldori
Kudos: 2





	Falling For You (Into Rivers)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm putting off writing my FE3H Ranch AU until my exams are definitely over and I'm definitely less tired, so here's a piece in the interim! I know Fates isn't as popular now, but I paired these two up in my game and I love them so much... big dorks. Anyway!

The sky was a brilliant blue as Caeldori soared into the sky on her pegasus, and she smiled as the wind blew against her face. The hills below her were gorgeous mixtures of greens, and at times she could see villages below her with children running around outside. It reminded her of her Deeprealm, but it also made her thankful for leaving it. She flew down, closer to the ground, and skimmed the surface of a nearby lake with her fingers. Her pegasus whinnied, and she laughed. What could be more idyllic than a warm, sunny day to gather inspiration for writing?

“Caeldori! Look out!”

“Huh–” She called out, and then screamed as an arrow whistled past her ear. “Who did that?!”

“Sorry Caeldori! I was trying to do some practice,” the slightly embarrassed voice of Kiragi called out from below. “Are you okay?”

Caeldori circled, and then landed next to him, shaking as she got off her pegasus. Her pegasus ran across to the lake, and she gave Kiragi a cross look. 

“Why would you do that?!”

“I’ve been practicing doing more powerful shots. Dad wanted me to…”

“I know, but why into the air?”

“I didn’t want to hit anything!” Kiragi blushed a bit, and Caeldori sighed. “Anyway, I’ve been getting a lot better. Do you want to see?”

“I suppose so,” Caeldori said, looking over at her pegasus. “I need to go soon though, as I’m supposed to spar with Shiro soon.”

“I’ll be quick!” Kiragi had set up a few effigies at a reasonable distance, and quickly let loose arrows towards them. “And…”

The arrows shot through the effigies, scattering straw and, in one case, the head of an effigy, everywhere. Kiragi grinned toothily, and Caeldori smiled tiredly.

“Right, so I do need to leave.”

“Oh! Okay, I’ll grab my arrows and come back with you!”

“Oka– wait.” Kiragi was about to run off, but Caeldori grabbed his hand. “What do you mean, with me?”

“Your pegasus can seat two, right?” Kiragi pouted, and Caeldori gave him an incredulous look. “Selkie said they could, anyway.”

“Selkie?” Caeldori inhaled. “You should know Selkie is prone to exaggeratio–”

“She said your dad Subaki could seat two people on his pegasus!”

“Surely not.” Caeldori creased her eyebrows, and crossed her arms.

Kiragi smirked playfully. “Maybe so.”

“Get your arrows Kiragi, I do have a sparring session I’m supposed to be getting to.” She huffed as Kiragi sprinted off, and sighed. “Surely Father cannot… but then again, he’s gifted with perfection.” She looked at the waving grass in front of her, and timed her breaths with the grass. Settle, Caeldori, surely you’re as good as your father…

“Back!” Kiragi yelled, stirring her out of her reverie. “Is your pegasus ready?”

Almost as if on cue, a gentle braying from behind Caeldori made her jump again. “Okay! Okay! We’re going!” She hopped on her pegasus, and extended a hand to Kiragi. “How did you get out here, anyway?”

“An hour long walk!”

Caeldori paused as he hopped up on her pegasus. “This will only take ten minutes then, if you don’t fall off.”

“I won’t! Promise!” The pegasus grumbled under Kiragi’s weight, but coped fine as Caeldori lifted off, Kiragi behind her. They soared into the sky, and Kiragi laughed. “This is kind of fun!”

“If you’re worried about falling, grab onto me.” Caeldori hoped he wouldn't, as they were high up enough that he'd be certain to die on impact...

“Okay!” Kiragi looked around, and made a frightened noise. “It is quite high up…”

“I wanted to avoid distracted archers on the way back,” Caeldori said somewhat briskly, remembering Kiragi’s arrow.

“Sorry about that…” Kiragi smiled, and then laughed. “Guess that means my shot was pretty powerful though!”

“Against a Nohrian? That would be good. Against me, your comrade?”

“I know…” She could hear Kiragi sighing miserably behind her, and felt bad.

“Anyway. Do you make a habit of going out to these places to practice?”

“Yeah! There’s barely anyone around, and if I want to I can have a swim after training!”

“A swim?” Caeldori’s eyes drifted over to the river that snaked along the Hoshidan plains from the lake Kiragi was training at. “Can’t say I know of many people who do that outside of the hot springs.”

“Well, what can I say?” Kiragi grinned. “It’s a great way of cooling off after some exercise!”

“Do you do laps too?”

“Yeah! Wait… do you mean in the water, or on land?”

“Either.” Caeldori was formulating a plan.

“In the water, I don’t really! I just kind of float around…”

“I should train in there then.”

“Oh!” Kiragi laughed. “By fighting, or swimming?”

“Both.” Caeldori scrunched up her face. “It’d give good resistance.”

“Do you wanna?”

“Later, not now. I don’t have any swimwear on me, and… well…" She paused. "You’re not really suited to melee fighting, are you?”

“Weren’t you going to learn the yumi after our next battle?”

“Yes, that's true." She smiled wistfully. "It’d make for good practice… Huh. It would. Do you want to meet me after our next battle at the lake?”

“Sure!” Even though Caeldori couldn’t see Kiragi, she could feel his effervescent happiness. “Wait… am I walking or getting a ride?”

Caeldori noticed her pegasus was moving lower through the sky. “Um.”

“Please say ride! This is so much fun!”

Caeldori privately resolved that Selkie was full of crap, as her pegasus soared lower and lower. “I’ll see how my pegasus is feeling, as she’s a bit weak right now…”

“Awww,” Kiragi groaned, “I hope we can!”

“Yeah…” If her father was doing it as a party trick, she thought, then that’d make sense, but it’d be incredibly rude of him. She wasn’t as perfect as him, so why should he–

“Caeldori! We’re heading downwards!” Kiragi shouted into her ear, and she made a noise of exasperation.

“Stop yelling!” She gently tried to move her pegasus to make a slow descent, but they were plummeting. This wouldn’t happen to her father, right?!

“What are we gonna do?!”

“Stop… yelling…” She saw where they were headed, and groaned. “Hope you’re ready for a little swim, Kiragi.”

“Ohh noooo!” Kiragi grabbed onto her, and she nearly screamed. “Will we be able to get back from here?!”

“Stop! Yelling!” She got on her feet on the horse, and Kiragi followed. “We’re going to jump, so that my pegasus doesn’t break her legs.”

“Okay!” The ground loomed ever closer, and Caeldori could see the sheer width of the river, and thanked her lucky stars that the river was calm. At least they’d be able to swim out, right?

“Jump!” With that, Caeldori leaped off her horse, and splashed into the water. Kiragi didn’t let go, grabbing onto her sides. The minute she was under the water, she kicked upwards, only to find she was hitting Kiragi’s legs and the ground was far below her. She kept her legs still, and then realised she was struggling in the water. Kiragi’s legs did the kicking, and he seemed to understand she didn’t know what she was doing. Was this becoming of Subaki’s daughter, she thought to herself, when she was supposed to be just as good as him?

“Haaaah!” Kiragi said the minute they broke the surface of the water. “The… edge!”

“Which one?” Caeldori asked frantically, feeling the water weigh down her clothes as she tried to kick out. She thrashed, and Kiragi yelped.

“Don’t move, I’ll swim!” Kiragi’s hands around her waist felt comforting, and she could feel herself getting weaker. “Your boots are kind of heavy in the water!”

“But you’ve got pants on!” She could feel her dress floating around her, but it was only a hindrance. How could it be so heavy after a bit of water? Her shoulder armour felt waterlogged, and she groaned.

One hand went off her waist, and she leaned into Kiragi as he swam to shore, speeding up suddenly as his hand rejoined the other. “Not anymore! I’m fast now.”

“Oh– oh.” She blushed, and moved her pelvis and legs away from his. “Right.”

They made it to shore, and Kiragi tossed her onto the side opposite her pegasus, and the way back. He followed, and Caeldori turned away quickly. When he said his pants were off, she didn’t realise he meant his fur as well. It was odd seeing him without his fur, and was almost like something she wasn’t meant to see. A giggle came from Kiragi, and she turned around nervously.

“I thought… when you said you wanted to swim… you knew how to…” Kiragi said breathlessly, unable to finish his sentence as he fell onto the ground.

“I’ve only been in the hot pools, nothing this deep.”

“I need to teach you,” he said worriedly. “I guess… at least your pegasus is okay…”

Caeldori looked over, and her pegasus was munching grass rather unconcernedly. “Yes, that’s a good thing.”

“And I guess we’re walking!” Caeldori looked over to see Kiragi squeezing the water out of his pants. “Don’t wanna exhaust your pegasus, if that makes sense?”

“No, that’s for the best.” Caeldori looked down her outfit, realising there was nothing she could really take off. She got her shoulder armour off, and yelped when a puddle of water came out of it.

“Haha!” Kiragi laughed, and Caeldori glared at him. “I mean… hehe.”

“That doesn’t really help, honestly…”

“If it helps, the sun should dry us off!” Yes, Caeldori thought, the same sun I was basking in before I nearly got offed by your arrow. “So… uh… I don’t know what you’re wearing under there, but if you want to take anything off I won’t be uh… awkward?”

Caeldori knew all she had on were small clothes, and sighed. “I’ll survive.”

“I’ll do the same then!” Kiragi said, sensing her discomfort. “And if worst comes to worst, we can warm up in the hot springs.”

“You’re not a woman, Kiragi.”

“I know, but everyone will get it!” He gave Caeldori a grin so wide, that she couldn’t help but grin back at ruefully. “But anyway… we still have to get over the river.”

“Ah.” Caeldori eyed it, and frowned. “I’ll take my boots off after.”

“We can try and throw them across?”

“Hmm.” She smiled. “Good plan.” She unlaced them, and frowned again. “How?”

“I’ll throw them! I’ve been feeling really powerful lately!” Kiragi wound up his arm, grabbed her left boot, and threw it across onto the bank with a “haah!” and a fist pump. He went for the right boot, and Caeldori giggled. “Listen, it works!”

Caeldori had to admit that Kiragi looked very sweet in the summery light, throwing her boots across the river. “Gaah!”

“What’s wrong?” She said, noting his sudden change. Looking over at the water, she realised why. “My boot!”

Her boot made it halfway onto the bank, but was slipping into the water.

“I’ll get it!” Kiragi immediately stripped off his tunic, and dashed into the water before Caeldori could say any more. She eyed his powerful arms sending him across the water quickly, and as he went under the water she wondered if he’d be okay. Drying her feet on the grass by her feet, she looked at her pegasus, unconcernedly munching grass below her.

“Kiragi?” She called out, worriedly. Bubbles were coming from the water, but it still worried her a lot. “Are you alright?”

“Bleeeh!” He yelled, emerging from the water with a boot in his hand, onto the opposite bank. He turned around, and saw Caeldori sitting worriedly. “I’m fine! Just tastes like… river.”

Caeldori laughed, despite herself, and Kiragi beamed. “How will we get everything else across?”

“I’ll make another trip!” At that, Caeldori suddenly noticed Kiragi’s strong leg muscles. How was he so muscular? How could she get as muscular as him? As he leaped into the water, she grabbed all of his clothes he’d discarded around the place. “Bleh, again!”

“Are you alright doing this?” Caeldori frowned, and Kiragi smiled.

“I’m fine, especially if you’re able to loosen up.”

“Loosen up?” Caeldori gave him an icy look, and he recoiled. “How so?”

“Weeeell…” He blushed. “Admittedly, you’re kind of cold towards most of the army, as you want to be perfect.”

“Yeah, but it’s because my father is,” she tried to explain, but Kiragi went up to her and put a slimy river-water finger on her lips. “Huh?”

“All our parents are perfect to a degree. Like, look at Shiro! He’s supposed to be the next king of Hoshido, and everyone wants him to be like Ryoma, but he’s living his best life. He eats fried chicken and hangs out with Mitama and Asugi all the time! Hayato’s kind of perfect in his own way, but Rhajat just wants to do dark magic, and Selkie wants to play games when Keaton’s always onto things and doesn’t want to get distracted!” He smiled, and Caeldori relaxed under his finger. “All I’m saying is, if everyone wanted to panic about not being good enough for their parents, nobody would do anything! Kana and Corrin? Sophie and Silas? Midori and Kaze?”

“I guess…” Caeldori smiled. “I just wanted to be perfect, because my father keeps saying how perfect he is!”

“He’s not.”

“Huh?”

Kiragi smiled. “Subaki, I mean your father, uh... whatever you call him… He’s not perfect! He’s just a really overconfident guy! If anything, your mom is! Like… Sakura is really good at healing people, and Subaki gets on with her because she had to keep healing his wounds because he was always so ‘perfect’ and kept going into dangerous skirmishes!”

“R-really?” Caeldori frowned sadly. “But… why would he not tell me?”

“He probably wants you to live your life the way you want to, and he wouldn’t want to see you feel sad…”

“But I’m…” she slouched, and closed her eyes. 

“You’re fine, I promise!”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah!” Kiragi smiled, even though she couldn’t see him. “You’re so good at everything, like writing and fighting! When you save me in battle, you’re perfect then! When you stop Hisame from getting killed by soldiers, you’re perfect! When Shigure needs someone to fight with him, you’re perfect!”

“Yeah, but…” She sighed. “I’m sad when I’m not as perfect as him. You know?”

“Oh Caeldori, don’t you know?” Kiragi’s other hand, thankfully dried on his shirt, touched her cheek, and she opened her eyes. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“Kiragi…” She could see how bright Kiragi’s eyes were in the sun, and she leaned into his hand. “Thank you.”

“It’s fine! You’re so lovel–”

“No.” She put her hand over his, and he blushed harder. “Nobody tells me that I’m perfect.”

“R-really?”

“You said it yourself– people think I’m standoffish. I guess that’s why I’m flying around by myself a lot, and don’t really hang out with you all.”

“That’s probably why you feel like you have to be perfect too!” Kiragi grinned, and Caeldori smiled back, warmly for the first time. “I mean… without us keeping you in line, what are you going to do? Be miserable and think you have to be something you already are?”

"I want to feel... alright about myself, you know?"

"You're fine. Honestly." He gave her a kind smile. "You're perfect, and I wouldn't want you to be any other way."

“Kiragi…” She realised at this distance, he was close enough for her to kiss. His lips, while wet with rivery dew, were quirked up in a smile, and they looked…

Her train of thought was interrupted by his other hand, that was still on her lips, caressing them softly. “I’ve had a crush on you for a while, Caeldori, and I’m so sorry for shooting an arrow at you.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, feeling his fingers still stroking her lips as she spoke. “And honestly, I didn’t even think of you as anything other than a comrade until we fell in the river.”

“That’s okay!” He giggled, and Caeldori tried to suppress the urge to hold him tightly against her. “I always kind of watched from a distance.”

“A distance?”

“I mean… agh! I mean at like dinner, and during sparring! I was too scared to spar with you!”

“Heh, you’re okay.” Caeldori felt a little laugh bubble up through her, and Kiragi gave her a soft look. “Should we try and get back though? I love being here with you, but I’m soaked, and you reminded me I’m supposed to be sparring with Shiro.”

“Oh! Ohhhh…” Kiragi groaned, and Caeldori giggled. “Yeah, we should try and get back! See if your pegasus can fly, and all that…”

“She should! We have had a break, you’ll just need to take off anything heavy…” She looked downwards, and realised he was only wearing his cotton shirt and small clothes. “Which I guess means you’re fine. I’ll put my boots on the back.”

“I’ll carry you across the river!” Kiragi laughed, and Caeldori moved across to him. “I’ll try not to drop you…”

“Surely not,” Caeldori said incredulously.

“Well, yeah! I can’t!”

“Ah.” She smiled at him, and he grinned back.

“Can you carry my clothes? I’ll change into them once we’re over!”

“Okay, I’ll try not to drop them.” Caeldori went over and picked them up, giving Kiragi a worrying smile.

“I’m… Please don’t, okay? The river tastes like ‘Nohrian Scum,’ as my dad would say…”

“I won’t! I won’t.” She went up close to Kiragi, and he laughed, picking her up.

“Want me to jump in?”

“Didn’t you just say the river tasted awful?”

“Weeeelll… you have a point.” And with that, Kiragi leaped in, and Caeldori screamed as she went under the water. As they broke the surface, she spat out the water that’d gone into her mouth.

“Bleh!”

“I know, right!” Kiragi laughed, and Caeldori felt a begrudging sense of happiness towards him.

“Your positivity is infectious, just like the diseases in this water,” Caeldori said dryly.

“There’s no diseases in here!” Kiragi cried out. “Just river water and mud!”

“I was only joking!”

“Oh!” Kiragi smiled as Caeldori looked up at him from his arms. “You just have to worry about mud, but that’s nothing too bad.”

“Yeah…” 

Kiragi’s legs carried them both across the river quickly, and soon they were on the banks. Kiragi quickly pulled off his shirt, but this time Caeldori didn’t turn away, and instead smiled a little bit as she saw his growing abs. A bit more swimming, and he’d have a six pack to rival even Saizo!

“What’s up?” he asked her, seeing her looking.

“Well!” Not taken too off guard, she said, “you’re looking strong.”

“Thanks! My practice has been helping a lot… do you still want to practice yumi with me someday?”

“Yes, that’d be good.” Caeldori put on her left boot– the right one was still too waterlogged– and walked over to her pegasus. “Hello!”

“Is she ready to take two very wet people and their gear back to Lilith’s Fortress?”

“Well…” Caeldori pretended to listen to her pegasus, and smiled. “She says that she’s willing to take our wet gear, and we can walk back together?”

“That sounds fine by me,” Kiragi said, walking over to her and putting his yumi and clothes onto her pegasus. “When do you want to set off?”

“Now sounds fine,” she said happily. “Are you ready?”

As her pegasus flew off, somehow balancing their weapons, Kiragi smiled. “Very ready.” 

Sure, he was without a shirt and she was without a boot, but they were together, and that was all that mattered to them. They started walking towards camp, and Caeldori slipped her hand into his as the sun behind them started to set. It was, without a doubt, perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what Kiragi's tunic type thing is called!!! And unfortunately Google couldn't give me an answer! Oh well...
> 
> Stay hydrated, uwu!


End file.
